Category Archives: Fluff Posts

These are fluff posts that describe events outside of sessions. So events like Crash 2.0, descriptions of organizations (like Security Forces or gangs), and various other topics that enhance the experience.

As Tatters leaves the safehouse, he starts heading back to town using the same method he used before to shake anyone who might be trying to follow him. He parks in a parking garage just a little ways from the precinct, and heads into the host, hoping to track down the case files and status of Ace & Walker. He easily hacks into the host for the precinct and locates the case files. However, he forgot to check for any security on the file as he opened it and it causes a databomb to go off. However, his cyberdeck absorbs the damage. He jacks out and pushes the events of the morning with Duchess and Acorn out of his mind. Now with a clear head, he jumps back into the host and locates the investigation file again. He downloads the file and sees the latest update. Both Walker and Acorn are being detained in being moved to interrogation rooms. He brings up the camera feeds for those rooms, waiting for them to be brought in and peruses over the investigation notes.

A blonde human woman walks into the interrogation room with Ace. She stands about 5 and a half feet tall, wearing an armored business suit and an Ares predator on her hip. She begins questioning Ace about Trifecto Studios and the boxing promoter, Kanner Leewee. Ace giver her lip about things, but she brings out a terminal and starts playing the trideo of Ace, Walker, Viking and the boxing promoter discussing setting up a meeting with Jackson Pruitt. The trideo starts to get all staticky and fades in and out as Tatters hacks into the terminal and sends a bunch of noise to it. She closes the terminal and proceeds to as if there is anything he would like to add or is he sticking with his story. He continues to give her lip and she turns and walks out of the room.

She walks into the room with Walker and goes through the motions with him. She knew she didnt have much to make anything stick on these two, but maybe she would get lucky. She started the video for him, when her partner poked his head in. “The other one is ready to talk,” he says to her. Rueben looks at Walker. “Well it looks like he is ready to deal, are you?”

Walker leans forward, chains rattling on the table. “No deal is ever fair.” He then just leans back, staying silent.

A few minutes later, a uniformed officer comes into each of the rooms and tells them that they are being released. Not questioning it, the pair leave with the officers, go through the paperwork process and are released from the precinct. Just as they are leaving, they here an exclamation from Lieutenant Rueben. “WHO THE HELL IS CAPT JACK SPARROW AND WHY DID HE RELEASE MY SUSPECTS! I want an APB out and all sensors sweep for facial recognition …. NOW”

As the pair walk out of the precinct, Tatters pulls up in the Roadmaster to pick them up. “Sorry about the delay guys. Apparently, you weren’t the highest priority for Duchess or anyone to let me know you got picked up.”

“Not my first time in a station” Ace says. “Thanks anyhow.”

“Thank you, Tatters.” Walker responds.

“Any good bars in the area, I gotta buy you a drink” Ace says to Tatters.

“Yeah, I think I know somewhere not too far. Plus I can fill you guys in on the next problem we have.” Tatters heads towards a good whiskey bar he knows nearby.

Walker turns to Tatters. “How is Duchess?”

“Well, Duchess is okay, if not preoccupied, apparently. Acorn however, is another story. Corp bounty out on her. A big one.”

“Wonderful.” Walker says as he feels a headache coming on.

“Had a run in with an idiot with a mullet trying to collect, but Acorn and Duchess did good. We shook them for now.” He passes past the whiskey bar and continues taking random streets as he heads out of the city.

“Who the hell has a mullet now a days?” Ace quipps from the backseat.

Walker just ignores that question. “Are they somewhere that is safe?”

“Calypso stashed them in a safe house she has, they should be good for now.” Tatters responds.

“Good. I hope Calypso is trustworthy enough. I suppose this means we’ll be looking for a solution to Acorn’s bounty?” Walker says.

“Why is there a bounty anyway?” Ace asks.

Tatters shrugs. “I have no idea what the play is here. Getting rid of the bounty is not going to be as easy as walking out of SFPD.” He turns to Ace, “Wasn’t very descriptive, you should ask her.”

Walker looks towards Tatters and continues. “Who set the bounty?”

“Wuxing,” he says flatly as he rounds the corner and takes the Bay Bridge towards Oakland.

“Those are the guys who hired us didn’t they?” Ace asks.

“Hard to imagine someone so young being necessary to someone like Wuxing.” Walker says softly as they continue, paying little attention to Ace.

“She’s a mage.”

“So am I. I have yet to have a bounty on my head.”

“They don’t have any hoooks into you I guess”

“Good. Let’s try and remove their hooks from her.” Walker sighs. “She is starting to become a problem. Something like this means she owes us answers.”

“I don’t want to reveal where they are, unless necessary. But I can get everyone together in one spot, or we can convene via comms.” Tatters continues. “But we should all talk on this.”

“One spot sounds good. She has no choice but to talk then.”

“Could send her back to her parents in Alaska.” Ace offers from the backseat.

The other two seem to ignore his comments. “I’ll set it up and get in touch with everyone.” Tatters suggested.

Ace slams down his commlink. “Why isn’t my fixer not responding?”

“If it’s you, he most likely doesn’t want to answer.” Walker says as he looks to Tatters. “Where is this spot you are suggesting?”

“Let me work it out, find somewhere I can get them safely to.” Tatters responds as the Roadmaster exits off the bridge and the camera fades to black.

After Acorn and Duchess leave the scene after Walker and Ace are detained. She kick in the autopilot on the Jeep. “Drek, what happened back there …” she says to to Acorn, who is silent. She grabs her commlink to dial up Eternal or Tatters, but it starts going off. Its a message from Calypso. “Hey dear, theres a neo-reggae band playing here in an hour or so. If your done with that job, you should swing by!” The message had the geo-coordinates for an abandoned warehouse in East San Mateo.

She looks over to Acorn. “Hey, Calypso has the line on a club that is playing some neo-reggae drek that should be pretty hot. I just need to get changed, but you wanna go?”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty sweet. I’ll just get changed into something more loose can’t party in a hoodie unless its to the sound of lead hitting the floor. Thats what I always say. Anyways, I’ll just get my skates on and some stuff to party and we can roll on down to that club.”

“Hey emerald eyes, you have a ride? Cause I don’t really have one…”

“Yeah …” blushing slightly “I have this Jeep now, just need to get the decker to clean it for me. But we can take a cab there for now.”

Duchess drops Acorn off so they both can get cleaned up and make plans for meeting up in a little bit.

A couple of hours later, Duchess swings by and picks up Acorn in a cab. “The Jeep needs to be cleaned, so its a cabby night.” She gives the driver directions to a warehouse in East San Mateo overlooking the San Mateo Bridge. From the outside, the soft mello sounds of the reggae music permeate the atmosphere. Gathered around the warehouse are dozens of others that are enjoying the music, dancing. Calypso meets Acorn and Duchess as they get out of the cab. “My Dears!” and gives each a firm hug. “I trust the job went good, yes?” she says in her think Jamaican accent. Duchess pulls Calypso aside and the two of them talk for a couple of minutes, which results in another hug. She waves over to Acorn to follow them into the club.

Acorn stops leaning on the wall and comes over “Yeah, its a shame that ending, but we got a jeep at least” she said pushing open the door. “Been looking forward to this. should be a great time.”

Once in the club, the music flooded the senses. Not just hearing, but the rhythmic sensations were felt, seen and even tasted. The smell of deepweed further enhanced the experience as Acorn, Duchess and Calypso were exposed to the Astral plane. There was a deep-seated feeling of euphoria and relaxation that put the trio at ease as they danced to the music. Dancing with Acorn, Duchess felt an … attraction … a sudden … need for the other young mage. She didn’t know her very well, but every time their eyes locked, she felt a pull to her. They started dancing closer and closer as the tempo of the music increased. They locked eyes again and she heard her whisper “Emerald eyes” in her ear. Their eyes remained locked as she moved her face closer to hers. She could feel her breath as she placed her lips on Acorns.

Acorn felt herself blushing as the kiss was planted on her lips. Looking up at the taller girl as she felt a happy little giggle inside her body. She had never really kissed anyone before, being ‘too high class’ back in her home town to wish to date anyone and then not really finding the time for a relationship while on the run. Sure her and Brew Master were close, but she always thought of him like a reliable friend. Acorn shut her eyes embracing the kiss and put her arms around Duchess. As she wanted to embrace her and this moment. Acorn felt flustered over the embrace. She could feel so many things as the booze running threw her clouding her judgement. She decided to let this go where ever it went.. she was the smaller of the pair after all.. She thought, just this once.. I can let go and let someone else lead me… as she shut her eyes enjoying the feelings of the room.

There is a hint of surprise in the embrace as she is having her first kiss. Things were always too busy in Baltimore and Frank would drek bricks at the thought of Duchess having a boyfriend, let alone a girlfriend. She let the feeling wash over her as they embraced. It seemed like hours before their lips broke and she caught a glimpse of Acorn’s eyes. She could see she was feeling the same as her. She could feel their hearts beat together, the sweat in their hands as they gripped each other. Duchess smiled and laughed as she spun her around and danced with her. She caught a glimpse of Calypso as she gave them a knowing look. She went about her dancing, while the two girls danced the night away.

Acorn smiled as she was lead around, happily dancing with her new interest. She was more of a skater than a dancer. but she was fine. She relaxed into the rhythm, feeling the rhythm in the air, the beats in their hearts and the heat on her skin. She felt very happy. She had danced before, but never with someone who thought she was special. She thought to herself how this must look from the outside and how she looked like the younger girl dancing with her senior, but she didn’t mind. It was nice to take off her mask and leave behind the bravado of always trying to be perfect and not caring. She smiled and giggled a little at this thought as she continued to party. When her eye catches Calypso’s, she felt her face going red as she recognized someone she knew seeing her letting go, but she gave a nervous smile. Trying to not let it bother her. She liked Duchess.. It was just strange showing it in front of someone who knew both of them.

As the night turned into morning, the sun starting to rise on the San Francisco Metroplex, the music started to die down and the club began to get empty. Calypso left me a message that she had fun and left already, but Acorn and I were still dancing. Looking into Acorn’s eyes, she whispers in her ear … “ready to leave? I can get the cab to take you home … or you can come home with me ….” She runs her hand along her face and moving a tendril of hair away from her face and tucks it in behind an ear. She lets her hand linger there a bit and couldn’t resist gently stroking behind her cat ear.

Acorn stares into Duchess’s eyes and giggles playfully, her face red as she gazes at her. She replies in a soft nervous voice, more kitten than lion “I… I would like that” the normally bold girl showing her true colors as she let her body talk for her. She was glad for the invite and the attention she was giving her ear.. it felt good.. She was more than happy to accept her invitation, even if in her own little way.

A smile comes across Duchess’s face as she brings up her commlink and requests a cab. It should only be a few minutes, but she couldn’t resist the urge to dance with Acorn more. The music was still playing … or was it?? Looking around the warehouse, most of the people were gone and that included the band. A message on my commlink said that the cab was here. “Oh DREK!” That was 20 minutes ago. Grabbing Acorns hand, she gives her another playful kiss and whispers “Lets get out of here … the cabs waiting.” Just as we get outside, I was able to stop the cab and we climb in. Duchess gives the cabbie her hotel address and they were there in what seemed like seconds.

Once we get up to the room, I gesture over to the couch for Acorn to have a seat. “Have a seat … I got a surprise for you.” She says with a sly smile. The sounds and smells start coming in from the kitchen and I start making breakfast. After about 15 minutes, Duchess comes out with a couple of breakfast burritos. “Here ya go, quite possibly one of the best bfast burritos around and it contains no soy!”

Acorn took the time to examine Duchess’s room. She could instantly tell it was a step up from her dirty motel room. She didn’t want to pry too deeply though. She did mostly what she was told, sitting on the sofa her face sorta red. She wasn’t used to this kinda thing after all. She was happy to see Duchess return and the food… it tasted sooo good.. Having spent most the night dancing she was rather hungry and tucked it without a moments hesitation. “Thanks, emerald eyes” she cheered as she was handed the food. She didn’t really mind the soy thing. She liked milk personally she didn’t really know what soy was come to think of it. “hey… erm.. what is soy?” She asked having not really had much experience with shopping and cooking properly since she went on the run from her family. She didn’t mean to ask such a weird question, but while they was having a small food break she thought it would be good to talk some more, away from the noise, even if it was about something mundane. Acorn was still excited though. She felt a flutter inside and appreciated the level of trust Duchess in bringing her back to her home.

Taken a little aback by the question, but then starts to blush when she recalls being called emerald eyes. “Well soy is just what all the megas put into food. It makes it cheap and is cheap to manufacture.” She starts to point out the fresh veggies like onions, green peppers, potatoes and some jalapeños, mixed with some sausage. “Most of the time these are made with soy components, but I tend to not like soy, so I don’t really cook with it.” She smiles and continues to eat her burrito. The two sitting on the couch eating.

“Makes sense.. thanks… Im not very … used to living alone.” She goes redder thinking about what might happen if there relationship escalates.. “I’m.. not much of a cook… never really made food for me until I ran away from home..” She smiled, finishing her meal and started to blush thinking again “erm… what … erm.. how do we.. … …” she blushes a redder red and looks up to Duchess for guidance as she steps outside her own experiences… and judging her partners too.

“I dont know, honestly … I havent really felt this way before …” her face starts to flush red, but she runs her fingers through Acorn’s hair, letting it rest on her cheek. She moves in with a deep, passionate kiss and it seems that time stood still. Their two heartbeats seemed to sync up as she wrapped her up in her embrace. Her hands started to explore the body that she embraced. “I havent done this before, either ….” she gasps as she realizes how far this is escalating.

The camera pans out as the two girls are wrapped in each others embrace and slowly fades to black …

Late in the morning, Duchess and Acorn are asleep when Duchess is awakened by the buzzing of her commlink.
“Hello .. oh hey, whats up?”
“Yeah, I am still in San Francisco. I’m actually going to stay a bit longer than originally planned. Some things went … well its difficult to explain.” She casts a glance over to the girl sleeping on her bed.
“I know I said I would only be gone for a few days …”
“Gah, no .. no …. its not that … fine, I come home the day after tomorrow …”
“yeah, yeah yeah, love you too”
She hangs up the commlink and heads off into the living room …

Acorn slowly rolls onto the floor with a thump. She grumbles to herself holding her head.. Acorn hates mornings… and hates them more after a night of party… She rubs her eyes looking at the unfamiliar room “What.. happened…” she groans dragging herself to her feet and she drowzily inspects the room around her.

Hearing the sounds from the bedroom, Duchess heads that way and sees her waking. “Hey you ..” she says softly. “You … ok?”

Acorn rubs her head “yeah… I guess… I kinda fell out of bed…Who was you talking with anyway..?” She replied making a note that her hair probably could do with a brush right around now.

“Oh that was Star Flower … she’s my mentor and I work for her at her talismonger shop.” She pauses as she grabs a brush from the nightstand and hands it over. “I was supposed to head back to Baltimore today, but pushing it off for a few days.”

“Star Flower is a cute name… I wish I had thought of a better handle than Acorn…” replied Autumn a little scornfully like she was sulking for a moment “…Don’t suppose you store any of your old clothes here…? Something that would fit me?” she asked blushing a little as she cursed her lack of foresight.

“Umm … yeah … I should have something …” She opens up the door on the closet and pulls out a couple of things. “Here stand up, lets see how this fits …” Then heads back to the dresser and pulls out some other clothes. “You know, I spend enough time in San Francisco, I might as well get an actual apartment here instead of living out of a hotel room …” She pulls out a Forsaken Nexus t-shirt, she got at their concert, that is sorta faded and tosses it to her. “Might be a little big, but its the smallest thing I have.”

“Th-Thanks..” she says blushing a little at the clothes that was obviously going to be too big for her. She imagined people thinking she was playing dress up. Sometimes being small was such a burden… She shook the thought out of her mind “You have anywhere I can freshen up before breakfast?” she said not wanting to ruin the clothes.

“Sure … are you … ok?” she says as she nods towards the bathroom door.

“Yeah I think so… Im just happy to not have to wear my clothes from yesterday… I think it would feel pretty terrible considering all the fun we had…” she replied attempting to be as non suggestive as possible while referencing both the party and after party. “I’m not good in the morning.. its hard to think before a wash and my hair needs a good brush too.. I have one of those in my handbag though. Never know where the wind will pick up after all” she smiled “so… once we’re ready do you have any plans for today emerald eyes? I didn’t really have anything planned myself and I could chill with you if you like” she got up and headed towards the bathroom. “You know, once I’m all freshened up again.”

She watches the elf as she walks away and into the bathroom, the events of the previous night play through her head. She caught herself biting her lip as she felt the pressure build in her hips again. Pulling herself away as the thoughts escalate … “No plans really. I need to give Tatters a call and see if there’s a way to get Walker out of jail. I talked to Calypso about it a little bit last night, but her plans were a bit …. extreme.” She stopped when she realized that her hands were caressing her wet panties.

Acorn left the door open as she entered the bathroom. She was used to her home where the open bathroom policy was a thing. Awesome to live in a house with only one room where you could tell if the bathroom was in use by a series of obvious clues. Is her hoodie on the bed/floor/sofa is she not visible? She must be in the bathroom, in Acorns case. For her room mate though, it was if his headphones was missing. That dude sure loved his tunes. She washed her face clean of the make up from last night and started to giggle. Rather than washing it off she has more spread her eye shadow she looked like a panda. she giggled to herself and decided to poke her head out. “Hey emerald eyes … Panda face!” she giggled and poked out her tongue before ducking her head back in “Yeah that sounds like a plan we really should save them.. even if its just ace.. walker can be kinda stern..” she complained with the door still open as she continued to clean her face.

The two have another encounter in the bathroom and get cleaned up together. During the shower, the pair make small talk and get cleaned up. The conversation led to discussing their parents, a topic that Duchess gets uncomfortable with. The death of her parents was still a hard thing to discuss. Duchess finishes rinsing the soap off and steps out of the shower without saying another word.

“hey… erm.. emerald eyes… thanks” she remarks wrapping herself in a towel and following her out “Once I’m dressed, lets head out for waffles and pancakes, if you like.”

“Yeah … we can do that. Let me give Tatters a call and have him met us there.” She picks up her commlink and heads into the living room, still wearing panties and a t-shirt. She dials up Tatters …

“heh.. This is the much more your style than mine” she said pushing on her shades. “You have any plans?” she said turning on her commlink too

The call goes to voicemail … She hangs up and calls again, then looks over to you with a crooked smile “I can see you checking me out behind those shades!”

She shrugged and smiled trying to play it cool. “What can I say, shades make a good commlink and a good way to hide what your REALLY looking at. No matter how amazing it is.” She pulled down her shades and winked. “Gotta get back to playing it cool. can’t have the others knowing I like being cute on occasion. They’ll never let me live it down” she chuckled lightly. “The things we do to be taken seriously” she said with the smile of someone who knew they was talking to someone else who got it. She walked forward, offering a hi-five, thinking it was the right way to act. “so… erm… do we tell them? or should we keep this to ourselves for now?”

The call in to Tatters stops abruptly and he send a text to Duchess: “What?” The font and formatting convey utter annoyance.

“PICK UP YOUR FRAGGING PHONE! Walker and Ace are in trouble” she texts back.

A call just opens between them. “What the frag happened?” he says as Duchess puts him on speakerphone.

“They got arrested.” answered Acorn from the background. picking up her bag and opening the door for Duchess.

“Yeah, they were arrested coming back into town last night.” Duchess confirms.

“Last… night… Were you arrested too?” He sounds extremely groggy and annoyed.

“No, Acorn and I were in the same Jeep, but Eternal and Sledge were in the other car.”

“Nope. didn’t even know who we was. fortunately” Acorn replied.

“Duchess … So far every time you’ve been near this team. Someone has been arrested or you know, gunned down in the street charging at a whole lot of cops. What the frag are you doing to this team? Why didn’t you reach out earlier than this fragging morning if they were picked up yesterday?”

“Not exactly …” she says as she gives a wink to Acorn. “We went to the club with Calypso and then came here. We just got out of the shower when I called.”

“You want to bust into a police station without a plan during the afternoon?” quipped Acorn having Duchess’s back.

An audible groan. “Great. Our fixer also is okay with waiting on this… Oh you just both… Frag it. Fine, the adult is on the way.” The call drops.

“Someone isn’t a morning person” joked Acorn now fully woken up from her own bad wake up. “Guess we’ll be seeing him in a bit.” she chirped.

Duchess puts the commlink away and moves to sweep up Acorn in an embrace. “I am sorry about my attitude earlier …” and gives her a deep passionate kiss. “The death of my parents is still emotional for me“.

Acorn’s face turns red “naww its chill” she replied with a cocky smile. “I didn’t know your situation and you didn’t know mine. Thats what getting to know people is all about. I don’t know anything about anyone but ace. and I wouldn’t really trust him either seems kinda flakey if you know what I mean. But thats cool. I’d rather have them more distance to be honest. Means I can be safer… I don’t like to risk my own life If I can help it. taking things from the shadows is the way I normally run. I guess this’ll be the one and only time i’ll save ace.. he IS a friend but helping him is a pretty big deal you know? Hey you never did answer. we keeping us a secret for now?”

“Drek … I dont have any pants on …” She goes into the bedroom and finishes getting dressed. “I dont really care if anyone else knows, but if you want to keep it quiet, I am good with that.” She walks out of the bedroom fully dressed in her steampunk outfit and goggles. Gives another kiss on your lips. “You know … I am sure Tatters is running late if you want to ….” she says as she eyes back towards the bedroom.

“heh… I’d rather go home quickly and get changed…” she giggles “I look rather silly in your clothes given there like 2 or 3 sizes too big. But hey. don’t worry too much about it. I’m not gonna say anything to the others. Its not my way to talk about my personal life to them, but I won’t deny it if they ask either. thats just the way I handle those guys anyway. None of them have taken an interest in me yet” she shrugs. “Their, loss I guess” she smiles again. “By the way. have I ever said how cool your steampunkish outfits are?, cause there pretty awesome. If I had the money to, i’d buy like custom drone skates in that style and be look BOOM rocket skates!” she pauses for a moment “heh.. sorry that was kinda silly”

Duchess giggles with her. “We should go now ….” and glances back at the bedroom and remembers the events that happened earlier this morning. The soft feel of her lips, her supple breasts, her belly button … her … She caught herself blushing as she looked at Acorn. “Yes, lets go have some waffles.”

“Yeah I’ll be out and back in my hoodie, though my kitty ears are always visable hehe.. you know they sell hoodies with ear for girls like me?” she smiles and enjoys the small talk on the way back to her home and after a quick 5 minutes change she comes back with duchess clothes neatly folded, chucks them into the boot and cheers as they speed off to the dinner

Tatters arrives at the diner a little ahead of the others and grabs a booth towards the back, away from other customers, and with a few quick thoughts shuts off the diner’s camera feeds for the time being.

He accepts some coffee from the waitress and waits watching the door for the matching headache to his hangover to come in.

The cab pulls up and Acorn and Duchess steps out. They walk into the diner and quickly scan around and find Tatters. The pair of teenagers take a seat at the table and start to look at the menu. Taking another glance around, Duchess explains what had happened when the team got back into town. After a quick run down of the Big Sur run …”When we got back into town, the cop car pulled in behind us. Eternal, Sledge and the drekton of explosives stayed on the freeway while we pulled off. They pulled us over and said they were being detained for questioning.” She pauses as the look on his face gets twisted … “from my understanding, they are at the downtown precinct still”

“We’ll come back to the bit about Eternal and Sledge another time … Okay, we need to figure out why they were picked up, what the cops have on them, and then we can try to find a way to get Walker out. Maybe Ace, although it feels like he probably belongs there anyway. Probably best you two hang back on this, at least until I can find out more. There’s something else we need to talk about, Ms. Suyin.” And Tatters looks pointedly at Acorn.

He pauses in the conversation as the waitress comes by and delivers more coffee.

Duchess is about to talk when he notices the pointed look at Acorn. She glances back and forth between the two for a moment and rest her hand on Acorns leg.

She pulls her shades down a bit “How do you know my last name?” she said in a stern manner. being very sure she hadn’t told anyone

“It seems you’re worth quite a bit. With a phone call Duchess and I here could be splitting a nice 20,000¥.” Halfway through the statement, Tatters seems to get a little distracted, looking not quite at either of the girls, but not quite at another patron in the diner either. Then an message appears on Acorn’s commlink showing a Wuxing bounty describing her with her given name and shadowrunner handle.

Duchess put a hand on Acorn and looks around. “Tatters …. what are you talking about.”

“Don’t do something stupid like look around, but there is someone with a pointed interest in this table across the room.”

“What the hell is going on!” Duchess kept saying.

“Oh.. so.. your not here to collect… I mean taking me to a public place where I don’t want to cause a scene was very cleaver… why did you do it?” she whispered using sub vocals to prevent the other tables hearing

“Acorn here popped up on an open bounty board. Which means anyone with a bounty hunting license can cash in on her. And quite a pay day compared to most of the other bounties.”

“Wait this was my idea to meet to talk about Walker… WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!”

Tatters also notices the conversation getting a little louder and switches to subvocal. “The bounty just appeared overnight.”

Duchess notices her voice is getting louder and drops to subvocal as well.

Something clicks in Tatters mind. “Hey, you guys had me pull research on that last Johnson. He took a lot of funding from Wuxing…”

“sigh… so .. whats the plan… do I just go into hiding somewhere? I think thats the correct play.. make them think I’ve ran lay low for a couple months before taking action… I need to find an abandoned wearhouse…” she says mostly to herself.

“I can take you with me to Baltimore, but I am sure bounty hunters are there too” Duchess offers.

“I told you not to take the truck… Jeeez of course.. Johnson leaked because we screwed him … perfect…” Responds Acorn.

“Wait, how is this MY fault?” Duchess says, now on the defensive.

“Well… You did increase the reward by a large amount by demanding a car after the job and negotiations was complete. assuming the guy got chewed out by an angry official or was threatened with being fired and gave that information out… he had motive to screw our team over … not that I hold it against you..” Acorn says and the pair of teens are now arguing with each other over subvocal.

“Look, you two, first things first. We need to get out of here without what I’m guessing is another bounty hunter getting you.” Tatters interrupts.

Duchess starts to look around “What, you think theres a bounty hunter here?”

“What the drek Duchess.”

Looks back over to Tatters “What ….”

“Tatters is right.. we should feign that you’ve captured me.. if I pretty to pass out as if you’ve drugged me we could carry me to the car as if your collecting..” Acorn offers.

Tatters unfocuses a bit as he jumps onto the Matrix, then a few seconds later says. “Yep. He’s on to your bounty and just alerted his team.” He then looks a bit startled at Acorn. “That’s… that’s really good.”

Duchess goes Astral for a moment … “Drek … he’s Awakened. I cant just make you invisible and he is a pretty powerful mage as well.”

Acorn looks over the other two. “Just remember to leave a good tip to make it look like you payed them to do this”

“I am sorry dear, but we need to make this look convincing” she says subvocally. You see the magical sparks around her hand as she launches a stunbolt, hitting Acorn square in the chest. With the other hand she slaps a tranq patch on her, successfully knocking her unconscious. She looks to Tatters with tears in her eyes.

Tatters has text appear on the other bounty hunter’s commlink, not a message coming in, just text locking his display. “You’re late on this bounty. If you want any tips, I’m sure I could teach you a thing or two.”

“She’ll be fine, and it’s a good plan. Now play the part of the tough bounty hunting partner while I carry her out.” Tatters binds (leaving some space) Acorn’s wrists with a plastic tie.

Duchess stiffens up and scans the room as Tatters picks up the limp body of Acorn. Just then, the bounty hunter from across the room yells out “HEY, THAT BITCH IS MY BOUNTY!” and goes to pull out his Predator.

“I already told you, you’re slow on this one.” His eyes unfocus for a moment and the hunter’s predator begins sparking and smoking, electronics fused together. Tatters let’s his coat fall open to show his own, intact predator.

About the same time, Duchess starts an incantation and the nearby table flings into him, knocking him prone. As the other bounty hunter starts to move. A Raccoon spirit manifests on the table, snarling at him.

“There’s just no respect in this line of work anymore.” Tatters shakes his head to no one and doesn’t break stride towards the door.

Duchess is right behind him and puts up a physical barrier to block the door as they pile into Tatter’s car, releasing the spell after they were clear of the area. She sits in the back seat cradling Acorns head.

“Good work kid. Where can I take you two to lay low? I’ll go see what can be done about Walker.” pauses for a few moments “And Ace” with a shrug.

“I …. I ….. I don’t know ….” She stammers before making a call on her commlink “Calypso … I need help. Acorn and I need a place out of the way to lay low … yeah I know the place … thanks dear.” She hangs up and rattles off an address to a safe house in Richmond.

Tatters takes a roundabout way, checking for tails. Has the roadmaster meet them in a parking garage and ushers Duchess in, moving Acorn over. They finish the drive to the safehouse in the Roadmaster.

Duchess continues to cradle acorn and rubbing her ears as the Roadmaster takes, what seems like, every side street in San Francisco and pulls up to a ranch style house in Richmond. As the Roadmaster shuts down, Acorn begins to stur and wake up. Calypso walks out of the house and hurries to the door of the Roadmaster to help with carrying in Acorn.

Once they get into the house, she lays Acorn down on the couch “rest here for a few” she whispers and kisses her cheek. She turns back around to Calypso”Thank you” she says and gives her a hug. “You might want to split, I don’t want this heat coming down on you too.” Calypso looks at her with a look of disdain. “Like I haven’t had heat on me before, my dear … Let me know if you need anything else. The fridge is stocked and this place is untraceable to any of us.” She turns and leaves, gets back in her Jackrabbit and leaves.

“What do we do now, Tatters?” Duchess asks softly.

“For now, keep your heads down. I need to deal with the others. I’m not sure what to do about getting the bounty off of Acorn just yet. Getting someone out of trouble with one of the megas is not quite as easy as dealing with the SFPD. They might as well just give me access to their host at this rate… Save everyone a lot of headache.”

She looks between Tatters and Acorn and then turns off all of their gear. “I’ll stay here with her. I have a couple of spirits that are watching over us, so we should be good. Comms are turned off, so if you need anything, you’ll need to come back here. If we get into trouble, I will have to shoot out a message real fast … ” She pauses as she looks at Acorn, who is starting to stir more. “What the hell have we stepped into?” She says as Tatters leaves out the door and gets back into the Roadmaster.

Acorn stirs with Duchess’s statement. “I.. dunno.. I was just glad you was with me… I was starting to lose it for a moment when I was told.. ” she whispered “.. very convincing though… I guess you won’t be heading home just yet?” she asked sounding hopeful.

“No … I’m not going anywhere” Duchess whispers and gives her a soft kiss. “I found its better to ask for forgiveness than permission. I am staying for awhile” she sensually rubs behind an ear.

Here I am again. Reminiscing of the past. There was a NewsNet story about the 15 year anniversary of the Year of the Comet. My gosh, has it been that long …. My mind goes back to a run that I was on. It was just Scarecrow and I and the job was to eliminate a ranking member of the the CAS Senate. The intelligence we had was that he was going to be in his vacation home in Talledega. We set up the plans to hit him there. He was supposed to be alone, so a milk run right? It was so far from a milk run. The cabin was set back in the burbs and sorta away from the main sprawl. It was a quaint little wooden cabin that looked like it was pulled out of a Norman Rockwell painting. When we got there and set up, the fragger had his security team with him. “Drek ….” I thought to myself. Scarecrow and I were not prepared for this …

I called in some assistance by the name of Bulldozer. This was a 9ft tall cybered up troll that we called on when we needed in sticky situations. We decided to use a diversion and set fire to the parked nearby cars. The subsequent explosions drew out the security team. The ambush we set up worked like a charm and the team was eliminated … so we thought. Out of nowhere, a couple of spirits pounced on Bulldozer. Before our eyes and before we could even act, the spirits tore the troll to pieces. I called up some spirits of my own and started slinging spells at them. Scarecrow stormed the house and subdued our mark. After I was done with the spirits, I sped off into the house as well. Just as I entered the doorway, I caught glimpse of the mage that was about to take out Scarecrow. I threw up a mana barrier between them to stop the spell. The mage then turned on me with a powerful lightning bolt that hit me square on the arm. I went down twitching and yelling profanities. This gave Scarecrow enough time to put a bullet grouping right in the chest with his Predator.

I caught a glimpse of a lump of flesh nearby, but then passed out. I could hear Scarecrow running to me with a medkit and the sounds of him telling me to hold on while he patched me up. I woke up in the truck some time later and my wounds were field dressed. I reached over to scratch my arm and it wasnt there … What the FRAG! … That fucking mage took my arm. I asked Scarecrow what happened. He said he finished the job and then evac’d us the hell out of there. “What the frag happened to my arm!” I asked. “Its dead Aspen, its dead” he replied. When we got back from the job, I had a new fancy cyberarm installed. At first, it was difficult to deal with. Eventually, I was able to gain full use of it. I was even able to integrate using my magic with it.

I snapped back from the memory rubbing my arm. I thought of Scarecrow and placed a call to him. It has been too long since I talked to my old friend. We set up a time to meet at the Taco Stand for lunch. I hung up the commlink and thought “It has been way to long since I talked to my old friend“. I reached for the whiskey bottle and poured a drink. “To you Bulldozer …” and took the shot.

As I sit here, eating a soy taco — god I love these things — I let my mind wander. I dont know what set it off, could have been the trid video playing or … well who knows. Either way, my mind goes back to the 60’s and what was dubbed “Crash 2.0”. It was 2064 to be exact. It was hell in the Tir. I was recovering from a recent run and was relaxing eating soy tacos, much like I am now surprisingly enough. Without any warning, it seemed the all the lights went out. AR displays were no longer showing. Trids were down. Commlinks werent connecting to the Matrix like they were supposed to. I closed my eyes and was relieved to find out that the Astral was still present, so not all seemed lost. However, even that didnt seem right. I looked around the taco stand and started noticing that it was just me that seeing this. People walked out of the buildings looking around, as if the answer to this was just outside their doors. My ears were picking up whispered questions and concerns. However, among the “what the frag is going on” and other discussions, the familiar whine of propellers and jet engines became more prevalent. Instead of looking around the streets, I looked towards the skies instead. WHAT THE FRAG IS THAT!! Expecting to see the cloudy overcast sky, instead a jumbo jet was falling from the sky. Not landing … fragging FALLING! It crashed into some buildings down on Burnside a few blocks from where the taco stand. It seemed almost on instinct, I ran towards the burning wreckage. Now I have never claimed to be a charitable person or one to do things for the “greater good”, but a fraggin plane just took out a block of buildings. I full on ran down the street, turning west on Burnside and headed towards the screams and fleeing people.

The smoke was so thick, that I couldnt really get close to the wreckage. Thermovison was going bat-drek crazy since the smoke itself seemed to be on fire. I tried to blindly go into the the area and was able to get to the door of one of the buildings. I recognized this place. It was the apartment complex where Old Maid lived. Old Maid was possibly one of the sweetest grannies I have ever met. She took in homeless kids and helped them with learning how to cook and take care of themselves. I tell you, she made a mean bowl of chili! Without a thought, I broke down the door. and screamed for her. There was no answer. I tried feeling my way into the building, but tripped and ended up on her couch. Looking back … it still makes me catch my breath … was Old Maid. She laid there in her blue dress. A ceiling beam had fallen and crushed her. I knew there had to be children there … there always was. I screamed for them. Tried making my way further into the apartment. I made my way to one of the bedrooms and kicked in the door. The ceiling on this room was ripped off by the falling wreckage. Amid the screams, I picked up the faintest whimper. There … under the bed … I ran over, grabbing the bed and flinging it away. A pair of kids were hiding there. Wait … I know these two. Their names escaped me then though. I grabbed the two of them and ran out of the building and towards the taco stand. I didnt stop running until I got to the taco stand. I knew it was safe there … for now anyways. I sat them down and looked them over.

Wiping away the memory, I ordered up another order of tacos. But looking at them, my mind goes back to looking at these two kids. A human boy and girl, Anne and Bradley, couldnt have been more than 12 years old. My fingers wiped away their tears and searching them for wounds. They had bumps bruises and a few minor scrapes. Dammit, I dont have my med gear with me. “Edict Corantha Sinettua!” My healing spells will have to do for now. The bruises and scrapes heal, but even magic couldnt remove the fear in their eyes, the shaking in their bodies, the memory of what just happened. Looking around, I remembered that my Bulldog was parked nearby. I rushed the kids over and put them in it. This truck has gotten me through alot of tough drek in the years, so its tough enough to take care of these two. I told them to stay put. Looking around, I seen there was another aircraft that was coming down, further in Gresham — possibly by the Wall. Then another one up north … possibly in the Columbia River or in Salish territory. Drek, how wide spread could this be? Cars were crashing all around him, explosions seem to be coming from everywhere …. frag this …. I hopped in the Bulldog and had the kids buckle up.

GridGuide didnt seem to be working … well that explains alot. Tried turning on the wireless on my Predator … nothing. What the hell, is the whole Matrix down ???? I fired up the Bulldog and headed for the safety, or the presumed safety, of home. I headed out of the Gresham barrens, through a smuggling hole in the wall and out to the cabin near Sandy. There was a very little Matrix signature there. They should be safe there. In the rear view, all I could see was smoke, fire and destruction. All I could hear was the sounds of screams, panic and death. Astrally, the pain and suffering was more than I could bear. As I was passing through the Wall, I caught sight of another plane coming down in the city. This was going to be one hell of a mess. Then I looked down at the two children crying in the backseat. I knew then that I was going to make sure that they never experience this kind of suffering again. I decided then, I am going to raise these kids as my own.

I shook away the memories as I took a few more bites of my taco. Damn, those kids are adults now. A smile came across my face as I seen them walk up to the taco stand, ordered some soy tacos and sat down next to their old man.

This is a running history of the nation of Tir Tairngire. Currently only the basic history is outlined. As the campaign unfolds, new information is learned and events occur, the timeline will be updated accordingly.

March 11, 2035
Lugh Surehand announces the formation of Tir Tairngire to the Salish-Shindhe Council.

May 6, 2035
Lugh Surehand is appointed High Prince by the Council of Princes. The first of several border skirmishes between Tir and Salish forces are touched off by the forced relocation of several thousand Salish citizens

August 17, 2035
In a surprise move, the Great Dragon Lofwyr is granted a seat on the Council of Princes

May 1, 2036
The first Rite of Progression is held. Hundreds of thousands of individuals participate

2055
Ehran the Scribe is officially granted a Council seat (secretly he has held the seat for years)

August 10, 2057
The Tir declares a “state of emergency” and closes its borders after the death of the Great Dragon Dunkelzahn.

September 6, 2057
The Tir princes inexplicably postpone the fourth Rite of Progression for an “indefinate period of time”

August 10, 2058
The resistance group Rinelle ki’Tesroe makes its first appearance.

June 5, 2061 – The Year of the Comet
The “state of emergency” that was in effect since 2057 officially ends. Lugh Surehand announces that a new Rite of Progression will be held in 2063

June 6th 2062
Without warning, both Lofwyr and Aithne Oakforest retire from the Council of Princes. Glasgian Oakforest goes missing.

July 3, 2062
Luke Surehand grants the Great Dragon Hestaby the rank of Prince; she is immediately awarded a seat on the Council of Princes. Ehran announces he will be vacating his position on the Council of Princes at the end of the year.

October 15, 2062
Ehran the Scribe officially vacates his seat on the Council of Princes

March 3, 2063
Mt Hood, and surrounding areas, has named a national heritage landmark.

May 15, 2063
The long postponed Rite of Progression is halted by the Renelle ke’Tesrae rebel group. Millions gather to boycott the tests and support the anti-government faction.

November 2, 2064
Crash 2.0 — While the actions that occurred during this crisis, Tir Tairngire suffered greatly from it. Revolution groups, such as the Rinelle ki’Tesroe, accused the government that they were not adequately able to protect the subjects. Riots ensued that cause millions of nuyen in damages across the nation. Wireless matrix went down, causing trains to crash and planes to fall out of the sky. The Gresham, Powellhurst and Eastside Districts are all hit hard with damages, both from the riots and falling planes. Nearly a dozen plans fell onto the streets within minutes of each other.

December 1, 2064
Teetering on the edge of collapse due to the combined crises of the Matrix Crash and the New Revolution coups, the Council decides to disband and the nation will elect a representative government

January 5, 2065
The Tir had their first general election. Former Prince, Larry Zincan, was elected as High Prince. The only former Princes that were elected to the new Council were the Great Dragon Hestaby and the sasquatch Rex

July 1, 2069
Saeder-Krupp reveals that the first large buildings produced solely using nanotechnology in Cara’sir. The office complex is considered a major breakthrough.

February 2, 2074
This is where your story begins. This is the date the campaign starts.

The Tir Tairngire Peace Force is the combined military and national police force within Tir Tairngire. The two functional missions of the Peace Force are divided into a Military and a Constabulary Division, each with their own subdivisions. However, both divisions maintain considerable interoperability, such as the law enforcement authority of the Border Patrol, and the use of the Special Forces for SWAT-style tactical law enforcement missions. The Special Forces are known by many names, but most commonly they are referred to as the Ghosts. Members of the Special Forces are all Paladins, and in that capacity are called Spirit Warriors (Meraerth ke’Tolo in Sperethiel). The unit is based at Hayden Slough Armory.

In 2062 There were approximately 200 soldiers in the Special Forces. The majority of them are referred to as Black Banner (Bratach Falan), and they serve in teams which conduct special and covert operations for the government, and the High Prince specifically. Special Forces teams are also operate within the Tir as SWAT teams, performing such missions as hostage rescue. Over 80% of the Black Banner soldiers were magically-active, either as adepts or mages. Almost all of them are initiates, having formed an initiatory circle called The Ghost Circle. Special Forces also trains in the use of para-animals, integrating them into combat operations.

The second, smaller, group within the Special Forces is called the White Banner (Bratach Gheal). There are fewer than two dozen of them, and they are the soldiers who serve as the personal bodyguards of the High Prince. In public, they are known for wearing ceremonial matte black armor and carrying broadswords. However, they are still highly-trained commandos. From their ranks, there is a smaller group known as the Black Daggers. These are the most highly-trained, loyal warriors who will serve the High Prince or the Council.

Given the nature of the political structure, other members of the Council of Princes can and do utilize virtually any member of the Special Forces for their own uses, up to and including the use of the Black Daggers. They can even go so far as to hand-pick soldiers in the Bratach Falan for special missions.

There is also a small contingent of Knight Errant forces that are contracted out for private security. Lonestar does not have a presence in Tir Tairngire.

So you think you are ready to join the ranks of us shadowrunners, eh? Well then the Tir may just well be ready for you. Recent developments in the nation have give a rise in opportunities with those that have the right skills. But dont think that the Tir is going to be a milk run, omae. Tir Tairngire, and more specifically Cara’sir, is just a rough as any other sprawl. Combined with its history as a “dumping grounds” for Tir subjects, yes I said subjects, that were recently released from prison, rampant corruption as the corps start eyeing the resources and racism, the Tir is still a tough sprawl to make a name in the shadows. Even though the Council of Princes have stepped down and the new government is now in place and a new High Prince.

The new High Prince, an ork named Larry Zincan and member of the former Council of Princes, has relaxed the borders of the Tir, started removing parts of the Portland wall that surrounds Cara’sir, and started opening its borders to allow corporations to begin investing in Tir Tairngire. The economy is back on the rise and the nation is starting to flourish again. Things are ripe for the pickings, one might say, for highly skilled individuals to make their marks.

So, if you think you can hack it here in the Tir, then pack your bags and make your way here. Tir Tairngire is truly starting to live up to their tagline “Land of Promise” but only if you got the grit to take it. See you on the flipside chummers!